Russia certainly recovered from that glitch in the 16 days that followed. The original script for the Closing Ceremony may have called for a celebration of Russia’s hockey victory in the gold medal game, staged earlier Sunday at the nearby Bolshoi Ice Dome. A quarterfinal defeat short-circuited that plan.

Otherwise, Russia’s execution of the Games and its athletic performance far exceeded expectations, capped by victories Sunday in cross-country skiing and bobsled. The Closing Ceremony observed the country’s rich heritage of art, music and ballet, with piano and violin performers and a tribute to the Bolshoi and Mariinsky theaters.

In one memorable scene, piano soloist Denis Matsuev performed, while 248 actors maneuvered 62 other pianos around the stage. The segment introducing PyeongChang, Korea, as host of the 2018 Winter Games, featured the Gayageum, a traditional instrument with 12 strings.

Korea will have much to live up to, following Sochi’s Games. U.S. Olympic Committee administrators expressed thanks and admiration for the way everything came together and how efficiently the Games were operated. And the Russian athletes performed wonderfully, earning 33 medals to 28 for America, the nearest competitor.

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Judging issues arose after the surprising figure skating victory of Adlina Sotnikova, and the Russians benefited from the success of a Korean speedskater and an American-born snowboarder. That’s not to discount an overwhelming effort by the host country, which last topped the medals table in 1994.

“Russia has delivered on its promise,” said Dmitry Chernyshenko, president of Sochi’s organizing committee, said in his speech. “This is the new face of Russia, our Russia.”

Bach thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin “for his personal commitment” to ensure the Games came off as planned. Putin, a visible presence for the past 17 days, attended the ceremonies.

Despite talk of terrorist threats, anti-gay legislation and unfinished hotels, Sochi organizers pulled it together in the most expensive Games in history at an estimated $50 billion. In the end, they rebuilt the Russian Riviera into a modern sea and mountain resort that they hope becomes a major tourist destination.

“It was a race to the finish for Sochi,” said Scott Blackmun, chief executive of the U.S. Olympic Committee. “I was here more than a year ago and it is amazing what they have done, not just with the volume of construction. They didn’t spare anything.”

The so-called “Iron Ring” of security around this southern frontier dissuaded the terrorist threats that scared away some Western fans and led to a soulless Olympics lacking in international spirit usually associated with the Games.

Highlights were shown intermittently during the ceremony, with U.S. snowboarder Sage Kotsenburg identified as 2014’s first gold medalist.

The United States had its best Winter Olympics showing outside North America despite 10 fewer medals than in 2010. Although speedskating had a disastrous run with one medal in long and short track racing, the action sports kept America near the top. U.S. athletes won eight of 18 medals in the new freeskiing and snowboarding events.

“If you look at things broadly, the medals are getting spread around more,” the USOC’s Blackmun said. “The fact we are still top of the medal table is indicative that things are alive and well in the U.S.

Many athletes whose events were staged early in the schedule had returned home, but others savored the last moments of these Games. “Enjoying another great show,” skier Brita Sigourney said via Twitter. Ski jumper Anders Johnson said of the Olympics, “It’s already over?”

Near the end of the show, the Games’ bear mascot blew out an Olympic flame as a tear trickled down its cheek. The cauldron outside the stadium was extinguished and 2,000 children took the stage carrying yellow flowers, as one season replaced another and fireworks erupted outside in the Olympic Park.

As the Olympic flame flickered to its final ember outside Fisht stadium, the world turned toward Pyeongchang, the third consecutive host city situated along the coast with nearby mountains. Organizing president Kim Jin-Sun said mountain events will be only 30 minutes from the coast, which leads to questions about adequate snow that plagued Vancouver and Sochi.

After Russia spent more than even Summer Olympic cities, the Koreans estimate a more modest $9 billion budget for the 2018 games. Perhaps the biggest question is the participation of North Korea. Kim said Saturday he is hopeful to see neighboring athletes compete.

Pyeongchang will represent the third Winter Olympics in Asia, the first one outside of Japan.

“Thirty years ago, the world saw a developing country,” Kim said of the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul. “Just one generation later, the world will see a truly developed Korea.”

Russia tried to present a similar image Sunday and all month. For all intents and purposes they succeeded.

An army of athletes, journalists and sports officials will depart the beautiful coast here carrying a positive snapshot back home.